Question

Suppose that an outbreak of cholera follows severe flooding in an isolated town of 3662 people. Initially (Day 0), 36 people are infected. Every day after, 34% of those still healthy fall ill.

How many people will be infected by the end of day 9?

Answer 1

3576 infected people

Explanation:

We have to apply the following formula, which tells us the number of healthy people:

A = p * (1 - r / 100) ^ t

where,

p = initial population,

r = rate of change per period (days)

t = number of periods (days)

Now, we know that the initial population is 3,662 but there are already a total of 36 infected, therefore:

3662 - 36 = 3626

that would be our p, now, we replace:

A = 3626 * (1 - 34/100) ^ 9

A = 86.16

Therefore, those infected would be:

3662 - 86.16 = 3575.84

This means that there are a total of 3576 infected people.